RFL outlines changes to grading criteria with greater emphasis on community

Last month, global sports management giant IMG unveiled a 20-point plan that will underpin the move away from automatic promotion and relegation.

Fandom, performance, finance, stadium and catchment were outlined as the five factors that will ultimately determine the fate of each club from the 2025 season.

The catchment category has now been renamed 'community' and will reward clubs for positive impact in the communities in which the sport is based and played.

The maximum score has now been increased to 2.5 points of the maximum 20 on offer, with clubs graded on potential fanbase and their foundation, the charitable bodies linked to clubs which drive much of their community and participation activity.

A maximum of one point is available for a foundation's turnover and the previous catchment category is now worth up to 1.5 points, down from two.

As a result of the amendment, the maximum finance score is now down to 4.5 points from five.

In the digital section, there is now a greater emphasis on overall engagement.

The recommendations will be put to a vote on April 19 and if accepted, illustrative grades for the 2024 campaign will be released at the end of this year, including feedback on areas for improvement.

Category A clubs would be guaranteed a place in Super League, with any remaining spots taken by the highest-ranked Category B clubs.

Minimum standards will be in place alongside the grading criteria, including the requirement for Category A clubs to run academy and women’s teams.

RFL chief executive Tony Sutton said: “As a result of feedback, we have worked with IMG to amend the club grading criteria to provide greater recognition for clubs’ engagement with their communities through their foundations – which strengthens the category previously known as catchment.

“The development of foundations has been one of the great successes of rugby league in recent years – enhancing the contribution the sport makes in the communities in which it is established – so it is absolutely right that this is now included in the criteria.

“The minimum standards underpin the club grading criteria. We have been working with clubs to introduce such standards in recent years, and this process helps us embed best practice that clubs currently show with the aim of raising standards more widely to the advantage of the sport as a whole.

“Crucially, this process remains democratic as well as informed and transparent. The clubs and other council members will decide later this month whether or not the sport accepts the recommendations that overwhelmingly last autumn we as a game asked IMG to develop for us and bring forward. We look forward to dialogue continuing over the coming weeks.”